1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a technique for checking for defects of devices which perform serial communication, and in particular to a technique for checking for defects of a plurality of serial communication devices during serial communication between the devices and a microprocessor employing a serial communication method.
2. Description of the Background Art
A microprocessor and communication devices used for an image display device such as a monitor, etc., employ a serial communication method for data communication, and may use a single serial communication line to carry out the serial communication. In this case, when a defect occurs in any of the communication devices, the other communication devices are interrupted from communicating with the microprocessor. As a result, the microprocessor and the communication devices cannot be normally operated. Accordingly, it is necessary to check for the defects of the serial communication devices.
In general, a user has to directly check for the defect of the serial communication devices by replacing all the devices one by one so as to find the defective device, which takes a great deal of time and effort of the user. As a result, efficiency in development and production of the products is reduced.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for checking for a defect of a plurality of serial communication devices connected to a microprocessor through a serial communication line, and a method thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for checking for a defect of a plurality of serial communication devices which can externally display which device among the serial communication devices is defective, and method thereof.
In order to achieve the above-described objects of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for checking for a defect of a plurality of serial communication devices connected to a serial communication line in parallel, including: a microprocessor outputting a control signal to designate one of the serial communication devices through the serial communication line, and checking for a defect of a thusly designated serial communication device by a response signal upon receiving the response signal from the device.
In order to achieve the above-described objects of the present invention, there is also provided a method of checking for a defect of a plurality of serial communication devices, including: a first step for outputting a control signal from a microprocessor to the plurality of serial communication devices through a serial communication line to designate one of the serial communication devices; a second step for the plurality of serial communication devices receiving the control signal and determining which device among the said plurality of serial communication devices is designated by the control signal; a third step for sending response signals to the microprocessor in order to communicate whether each device is defective according to a result of the second step; and a fourth step for the microprocessor checking for a defect of a thusly designated serial communication device according to the response signal therefrom.